Users of wireless devices, communicating within wireless networks such as Public Land Mobile Networks (PLMNs), often attempt to connect to a network that is connected to the wireless network. For example, the user of a wireless device may attempt to use a web browsing application at the wireless device to connect to the Internet via a PLMN. In such wireless networks, Access Point Names (APNs) may be used for identifying another network (e.g., the Internet, an Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) network), and/or a particular gateway associated with the other network, that a wireless device user wants to communicate with, and, additionally, may be used for defining a type of service to be provided via the other network.
When the wireless network receives a connection request that includes a particular APN, the wireless network examines the APN to determine what type of network connection should be created, and to which other network the requesting wireless device should be connected. The wireless network uses the APN to set up a connection between the requesting wireless device, and a gateway between the wireless network and the other network. As one particular example, the APN may identify the Internet as the other network being requested (e.g., APN=“internet”). An APN typically includes an identifier that identifies the other network to which a connection is being requested, and may optionally identify the particular service requested by the device user. Each wireless carrier network may maintain its own specific set of APNs that may only be valid within that carrier's wireless network. Therefore, APNs that are valid for use within a first wireless carrier network may be invalid for use within a second wireless carrier network (and vice versa).